8 
MANUAL OF THE 
for a few times, they will leave the hive, and seek a 
habitation in the woods. 
I will now give the reader a description of the best 
Hive in use. After using several different kinds, and 
after ten years’ study and experience, 1 have come into 
possession of a Hive that possesses most of the advan- 
tages of all others now in use. 
First; 1 make the Casement 28 inches high, and 18 
inches from front to rear, and also 18 inches from side 
to side. The Casement should he made of inch Boards, 
excepting the top, which should be 1 1-4 inches thick! 
The top should project over the casement i inch all 
around, except on the back side, where it should pro- 
ject 1 i inches, in order to receive a groove for the slid- 
ing door. I put the bottom board two inches from the 
bottom of the Hive, to give room to form short legs, as 
you see in the following engraving. The bottom should 
be made of 2 inch plank, the top of which should be 
4 inches from the bottom of the legs. I leave a space 
between the bottom plank and chamber floor, of 16 
inches, to receive the two Hives which are occupied by 
the Bees and their winter store. The chamber floor is 
3-4 of an inch thick, leaving the Chambers C inches. 
This Chamber is to receive two small long drawers. 
The Chamber floor and bottom plank are grooved into 
the sides of the casement. The front board and sliding 
door behind, should be each 1 inch thick, leaving the 
sides 16 inches wide. The Chamber floor and bottom 
plank should he the same width of tho side boards. 
There should be a strip, grooved the same as the top 
board, and nailed on to the edge of the bottom plank, 
on the back side, to receive the lower end of the slid- 
ing door. I then make a tenon on each end of this 
sliding door, to fit the grooves. This should he done 
with much care to prevent insects from entering the 
casement. Here you have a back view of the Self- 
Protecting Bee Hive, with the sliding door moved to 
the right hand side of the Hive. 
N. B. instead of a Groove in the bottom board it 
should be beveled so that the door may slide up, instead 
of sliding in. and then put two small buttons to hold it 
tight. 
